Acadia Family Center

The Basics

Acadia Family Center is an outpatient substance abuse treatment facility that was founded more than 35 years ago in Southwest Harbor, Maine, a scenic Mount Desert Island community bordering Acadia National Park. Its philosophy integrates a CBT-based approach with alternative therapies, embracing a harm reduction, rather than total abstinence, model of recovery. This means it tries to help clients cut back on their drug and alcohol use, even if they are not ready to quit yet. Acadia Family Center also believes that prevention is the best cure for chemical dependency, and offers drug and alcohol education classes in local schools and the community.

Acadia Family Center currently offers three groups—Early Recovery and Aftercare, Friends and Family, and Art Therapy. The Early Recovery and Aftercare groups provide peer support. Topics include basics of recovery, coping skills, chemical dependency education, the disease concept of addiction, relapse prevention and Motivational Interviewing (MI). Friends and Family group topics include awareness, healthy boundaries and learning new life skills.

While Acadia Family Center doesn’t necessarily employ a 12-step approach, clients are encouraged to attend outside AA/NA meetings. The rehab has a library stocked with books and audio/video materials that cover topics such as recovery, alcoholism, the 12 steps, co-dependency, depression, trauma, eating disorders and inspiration.

Staff includes a Master’s-level counselor, two licensed alcohol and drug counselors, a Master’s-level art therapist and a facility operations manager. The board of directors has 21 members including retired medical professionals.

Extras

Art therapy group is an integral part of the treatment, providing clients with a chance to express themselves, as well as to delve into subconscious issues. Yoga, stress reduction classes and writers’ panels, featuring authors in recovery, are offered at intervals throughout the year.

School-based prevention programs and Table Talks, a parent education class, are taught locally. Acadia Family Center trains school faculty by using the Resiliency Initiative as a teaching model, so teachers can help their students gain inner strength and not become vulnerable to chemical dependency.

In Summary

Acadia Family Center is a great place for those who want to integrate art therapy into their healing. While the offerings are light, the rehab is intimate and works hard to provide substance abuse awareness in the community. However, Acadia Family Center might best suit clients with strong foundations in recovery. For those requiring more comprehensive rehab services, such as inpatient, detox or medication-assisted treatment, this might not be a good fit.